Pickling cabbage in jars: this is how our grandmothers cooked it
This pickled cabbage in jars is a traditional salad on many tables. This salad is especially useful during the vitamin deficiency period, because it contains a high concentration of vitamins A, B, C, PP, E fiber, as well as many other elements useful for improving intestinal flora and improving health in general.
Proper pickling of cabbage in jars is not a complicated process, but it requires attention and knowledge of certain nuances.
To make this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
- Cabbage: 2-3 kg
- Carrots: 3-4
- Salt: 1 tablespoon per kilogram
- Sugar: to taste
Before salting, it should be carefully prepared. Remove spoiled and wilted leaves from the head of cabbage, wash thoroughly. After dividing into 2 parts, it should be cut into strips.
Do not make the pieces too big or too thin. The optimal thickness is no more than 5 millimeters. Dense but juicy leaves will ferment perfectly and will remain firm if you follow all the rules. After it is cut, most of the preparation for the winter is ready.
Next, you need to take care of the carrots. You don't need that much, 3-4 pieces are enough. Their purpose is to enrich with vitamins, color, and also improve the fermentation process.
Carrots should be washed, peeled and grated on a coarse grater. Carrots are very useful for fermentation, because their content increases the amount of lactic acid, which gives the characteristic sourness.
The chopped and grated ingredients should be mixed in a basin or enamel pan.
It is better not to take iron containers, as they can react with the acid. Salt and sugar are added to the chopped mixture and mixed thoroughly.
After mixing, you should press the cabbage with your hands so that it absorbs the salt better and starts releasing juice.
If you have any doubts about the amount of salt, taste it. If it is undersalted, you can add salt, and if it is oversalted, cut a little cabbage. This will not be difficult and will not cause problems in further fermentation. Moreover, you will be sure that it will not be oversalted.
A press is placed on top of the beaten cabbage, and a weight is placed on it. A bottle of water or some other heavy device can act as a weight. Once placed under the press, it should be left at a temperature of 20-22 degrees.
A day after pressing, it will release a lot of juice (the younger the cabbage, the more juice). To prevent excessive gas from forming in the cabbage, it should be pierced to the bottom with a wooden stick or stirred twice a day.
The cabbage is fully cooked after 3 days of pressing. There are cases when the press was not enough, and the juice was released more slowly.
In such cases, the fermentation process can take up to 4 days. It is very important not to forget to pierce and stir the cabbage so that the top layers are also well salted. After the specified period, the cabbage is ready, which means that it can be transferred to a jar and put in the refrigerator.
